Lisa Bianco

Case background and investigation

Lisa Bianco was killed on March 4, 1989, in Mishawaka, Indiana, by her former husband, Alan Matheney. According to the Associated Press account carried by NBC News, Matheney was at the time serving an eight-year prison sentence for a 1987 assault on Bianco and for confining their children, and had been released that day on an eight-hour furlough.

The couple had married in 1977 and divorced in 1985, according to the Wikipedia entry on Matheney, which says he was held at the Pendleton Correctional Facility. The South Bend Tribune reported that Bianco worked with battered women at a shelter in Elkhart County. The AP reported that she had asked to be told of any release, but was not informed of the furlough, and that Matheney's trip to Mishawaka violated the terms of his pass.

Prosecutors said Matheney drove to the South Bend area, broke into Bianco's house, chased her outside and beat her to death with an unloaded shotgun, the AP reported. WSBT reported that she told her daughters to call 911 before running from the house, and that she was attacked as she sought help at a neighbor's door. The couple's two daughters were in the home at the time.

Matheney was convicted of murder and burglary and was sentenced to death on May 11, 1990. His appeals continued for about 16 years. The Indiana Supreme Court rejected a request for a new trial in September 2005, and Governor Mitch Daniels denied a clemency request that had been based on claims of mental illness. Matheney was executed by lethal injection early on September 28, 2005.

The case had lasting policy consequences. Governor Evan Bayh suspended the state's prison furlough program after the killing; the AP reported that it was later reinstated with tighter restrictions. The state agreed to pay $900,000 to Bianco's estate and children. According to the South Bend Tribune and WSBT, Indiana created a system to notify victims when offenders are released, passed 1989 legislation allowing police to make arrests for misdemeanor battery they had not witnessed, and in 1996 adopted a constitutional amendment on victims' rights.

Bianco's mother, Millie Bianco, told WSBT in 2015 that she still received messages from women who said her daughter's case had protected them. St. Joseph County has since set up a domestic violence fatality review team and address confidentiality measures, the station reported.